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Revision as of 22:43, 10 May 2014

Bryan Caplan
Born (1971-04-08) April 8, 1971 (age 53)
Northridge, California
NationalityUnited States
Academic career
School or
tradition		Public Choice school
InfluencesDavid D. Friedman, Murray Rothbard
ContributionsRational Irrationality
Information at IDEAS / RePEc

Bryan Douglas Caplan (born April 8, 1971) is an American economist, a professor of Economics at George Mason University, research fellow at the Mercatus Center, adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, and blogger for EconLog. He works in public choice theory and is interested in libertarian subjects.[1]

Personal life

Caplan holds a B.A. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University with thesis titled Three essays on the economics of government behavior in 1997 with advisor Anne C. Case.

Books

The Myth of the Rational Voter

The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies, published in 2007, further develops the "rational irrationality" concept from Caplan's earlier academic writing. It draws heavily from the Survey of Americans and Economists on the Economy in making the argument that voters have systematically biased beliefs about many important economic topics. Caplan writes that rational irrationality is an explanation for the failure of democracy.[2][3] The book was reviewed in the popular press, including the Wall Street Journal,[4] the New York Times,[5] and the New Yorker,[6] as well as in academic publications such as the Journal of Libertarian Studies,[7] Public Choice,[8] Libertarian Papers,[9] and The Independent Review.[10]

Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids

Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids is a 2011 book[11][12] arguing that people often work too hard in child-rearing, and as a result, they are scared off the idea of having kids. Caplan's book urged parents to relax with respect to child-rearing. He also argued that as the perceived costs (in terms of child-rearing expense and effort) of having kids fell, it made sense to have more kids based on the basic theory of supply and demand.[13] The book was reviewed in Wall Street Journal.[14] The book was also reviewed by The Guardian,[15] RealClearMarkets[16] and the Washington Times.[17]

The book also led to debates featuring Caplan in the Wall Street Journal[18] and The Guardian.[19] It was also featured in a story on National Public Radio.[20]

Viewpoints

Pacifism

Caplan has identified himself as a pacifist on pragmatic grounds and has summarized his "common-sense case for pacifism" using three steps:[21][22]

  1. The immediate costs of war are clearly awful
  2. The long-run benefits of war are highly uncertain
  3. For a war to be morally justified, its long-run benefits have to be substantially larger than its short-run costs

In July 2011, Caplan debated his case for pacifism with Ilya Somin.[23] Sheldon Richman claimed to find Caplan's arguments more convincing in the debate.[24] In a February 2013 LearnLiberty-sponsored debate with Jan Ting at the Students for Liberty conference, Caplan used a slightly different breakdown of the case for pacifism, using four steps instead of three.[25][26]

Caplan's arguments in favor of pacifism have been critiqued by Tyler Cowen on the Marginal Revolution blog[27] and by many others.[22][28]

Open borders

Caplan is a vocal proponent of open borders, submitting that immigration restrictions keep the poor locked in a prison of poverty, limiting both freedom and prosperity.[29] He has made his case in an article for the Cato Journal[30] and numerous other writings on his blog and elsewhere, as well as in talks and debates.[31] A talk titled Immigration restrictions: a solution in search of a problem by Caplan in September 2010 to the GMU Economics Society, sponsored by the Future of Freedom Foundation,[32][33] was praised by David R. Henderson[34] and Jacob Hornberger.[35]

Caplan was cited as one of the leading proponents of the open borders position in an article in The Atlantic by Shaun Raviv.[36] He has also been quoted in other mainstream press pieces on immigration in outlets such as the Huffington Post[37] and Time Magazine.[38]

Anarcho-capitalism

Caplan is an anarcho-capitalist, citing influences such as Murray Rothbard and David D. Friedman, and has written on the feasibility and desirability of a stateless society.[39][40] Caplan identifies closely with Michael Huemer's position on anarcho-capitalism (in addition to sharing other ethical and meta-ethical views with Huemer) and played an important role in promoting Huemer's book The Problem of Political Authority on his blog, EconLog.[41][42][43][44]

Caplan's anarcho-capitalist views were discussed by Brian Doherty in his book Radicals for Capitalism and in Reason Magazine.[45] One frequent criticism of Caplan is an accusation that he has engaged in historical revisionism by claiming that anarcho-capitalists have a better claim on the history of anarchist thought than mainstream left-anarchists.[46][47]

Austrian economics

In September 2012, Caplan participated in a Cato Unbound debate along with Steven Horwitz, George Selgin, and Antony Davies on the value of Austrian economics.[48] In his response essay, Caplan reiterated some of his earlier criticisms of Austrian economics and also argued that Austrians' rejection and/or neglect of behavioral economics was puzzling given their philosophy of subjectivism.[49]

Public choice

The bulk of Caplan's academic work is in public economics, especially public choice theory. He has agreed with political economist Donald Wittman that traditional public choice has reached conclusions inconsistent with the canonical assumption of voter rationality; many of his publications examine the effects of relaxing this assumption, an idea Caplan dubbed rational irrationality.[50] In a series of exchanges with Wittman, Caplan defended many of the conclusions of public choice while agreeing that Wittman's criticisms hold under the assumption of voter rationality.[51][52][53][54] Caplan has also done empirical work on public opinion which suggests voters indeed hold systematically biased views about economics.[2][3]

Intellectual honesty

Caplan has written about the problem of preference falsification in the face of social pressure and said that: "I think the wisest course is to turn the other cheek. I will not call anyone else names, express my disappointment in them, or try to shame them."[55][56]

Caplan has called himself a "betting man" and stated that people who make predictions about the future should be willing to make bets about their claims. He has proposed and made a number of bets with others.[57][58][59] He has been critical of the view offered by Tyler Cowen and Noah Smith that financial portfolios are a better test of one's true beliefs than bets.[59][60]

Inspired by a blog post by Paul Krugman, Caplan also proposed the concept of an "Ideological Turing Test" (named by analogy to the Turing test).[61] His blog post inspired a number of tries at the ideological Turing test.[62][63][64][65][66]

Other views

In a Cato Unbound piece, Caplan identified himself as a natalist – he believes that more people are good for the world.[67] He identifies himself as a fan of Julian Simon, who was a proponent of the idea that larger populations lead to greater technological progress and a higher standard of living for all.[68][69]

Caplan believes that much of higher education is signaling.[70][71] He is a believer in dualism[72] and in libertarian free will.[73] Caplan also holds the view that twin studies and adoption studies have demonstrated conclusively that parenting style has very little impact on the adult outcomes of children.[74][75]

Media

Caplan has published multiple op-eds as well as a book review in the Wall Street Journal.[76][77][78] He also participated in a live chat with Laura Carroll and Will Wilkinson for the WSJ.[18]

Caplan debated "Tiger Mom" Amy Chua in The Guardian in June 2011 regarding the merits of different parenting styles.[19][79]

Caplan has been interviewed by the New York Times Economix blog,[80] and the Freakonomics blog.[81][82] He has also guest blogged for Freakonomics.[83] Caplan's book and Freakonomics guest posts were also picked up by the New York Times parenting blog.[84]

Caplan appeared on Fox and Friends where he was interviewed by Gretchen Carlson about his advice on child-rearing and his book Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids.[85][86]

References

  1. ^ Caplan autobiography
  2. ^ a b Caplan, Bryan (November 5, 2006). "The Myth of the Rational Voter". Cato Unbound. Retrieved August 17, 2013.
  3. ^ a b Caplan, Bryan (September 26, 2007). "The 4 Boneheaded Biases of Stupid Voters". Reason Magazine. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  4. ^ Casse, Daniel (July 10, 2007). "Casting a Ballot With A Certain Cast of Mind". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 29, 2013. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ Bass, Gary J. (May 27, 2007). "Clueless". New York Times. Retrieved September 29, 2013. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ Menand, Louis (July 9, 2007). "Fractured Franchise: Are the wrong people voting?". New Yorker. Retrieved September 29, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ Block, Walter. "The Myth of the Rational Voter (book review)" (PDF). Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. 22 (2011), Page 689-718. Retrieved September 29, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ Lomasky, Loren (June 2008). "Swing and a myth: a review of Caplan's The Myth of the Rational Voter". Retrieved September 29, 2013.
  9. ^ Farrand, Stuart (2010). "Critique of Caplan's The Myth of the Rational Voter" (PDF). Libertarian Papers, Vol. 2, Article No. 28. Retrieved September 29, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ Callahan, Gene (Winter 2009). "The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies (book review)". The Independent Review. Retrieved September 29, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ "Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids (book website)". Retrieved September 29, 2013.
  12. ^ "Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids: Why Being a Great Parent is Less Work and More Fun Than You Think [Kindle Edition]". Amazon.com. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
  13. ^ "Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids (excerpt)". Retrieved September 29, 2013.
  14. ^ Last, Jonathan (April 16, 2011). "Go Ahead, Have Another". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 29, 2013. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ McVeigh, Tracy (May 15, 2011). "Parenting guru Bryan Caplan prescribes less fuss – and more fun". The Guardian. Retrieved September 29, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  16. ^ Tamny, John (August 4, 2011). "Book Review: Bryan Caplan's Selfish Reasons To Have More Kids". RealClearMarkets. Retrieved September 29, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ Russell, Nicole (May 4, 2011). "Go and Multiply, Without Guilt". Washington Times. Retrieved September 29, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  18. ^ a b "Live Chat: Should You Have More Kids?". Wall Street Journal. April 14, 2011. Retrieved September 18, 2013. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ a b Saner, Emine (June 11, 2011). "Is strict parenting better for children?". The Guardian. Retrieved September 18, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  20. ^ "'Selfish Reasons' For Parents To Enjoy Having Kids". April 22, 2011. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
  21. ^ Caplan, Bryan (April 5, 2010). "The Common-Sense Case for Pacifism". EconLog.
  22. ^ a b "Against Caplan's Pacifism". April 25, 2011. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  23. ^ "Caplan-Somin "Liberty and Foreign Policy" Debate Page". EconLog. July 15, 2011. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  24. ^ "Bryan Caplan on Pacifism". July 19, 2011. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  25. ^ Caplan, Bryan (February 17, 2013). "Pacifism in 4 Easy Steps". EconLog. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  26. ^ "Debate: Is War Ever Justified". LearnLiberty. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  27. ^ Cowen, Tyler (April 25, 2011). "Bryan Caplan defends pacifism". EconLog. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  28. ^ Miller, Joshua (April 26, 2011). "Caplan's Pacifism".
  29. ^ Caplan, Bryan. "Caplan on Immigration". EconTalk (hosted by Russ Roberts). {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  30. ^ Caplan, Bryan (Winter 2012). "Why Should We Restriction Immigration" (PDF). Cato Journal. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  31. ^ "Bryan Caplan". Open Borders: The Case. Retrieved September 18, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  32. ^ "Bryan Caplan: Immigration restrictions: a solution in search of a problem". Retrieved September 29, 2013.
  33. ^ Caplan, Bryan (September 17, 2010). "Immigration Restrictions: A Solution in Search of a Problem". EconLog. Retrieved September 29, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  34. ^ Henderson, David (September 18, 2010). "Caplan On Immigration". EconLog. Retrieved September 29, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  35. ^ "The Best Open-Immigration Lecture Ever". September 17, 2010. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
  36. ^ Raviv, Shaun (April 26, 2013). "If People Could Immigrate Anywhere, Would Poverty Be Eliminated?". The Atlantic. Retrieved September 27, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  37. ^ Roberson, Steve (March 8, 2013). "Immigrants - The Once, and Future, Story of Jobs". Huffington Post. Retrieved September 28, 2013. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  38. ^ Matthews, Chris (January 30, 2013). "The Economics of Immigration: Who Wins, Who Loses and Why". Time Magazine. Retrieved September 28, 2013. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  39. ^ "Anarchist Theory FAQ Version 5.2". Econfaculty.gmu.edu. Retrieved August 17, 2013.
  40. ^ Caplan, Bryan (April 2, 2013). "Crazy Equilibria: From Democracy to Anarcho-Capitalism". EconLog. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
  41. ^ Caplan, Bryan (February 1, 2012). "What's So Special About Huemer's New Book?". EconLog. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  42. ^ "Huemer's Common-Sense Libertarianism". EconLog. January 25, 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  43. ^ Metzger, Perry (March 4, 2013). "Huemer's "The Problem of Political Authority"". Retrieved September 29, 2013.
  44. ^ PeaceRequiresAnarchy (August 19, 2013). ""The Problem of Political Authority" by Professor Michael Huemer". Retrieved September 29, 2013.
  45. ^ Doherty, Brian (April 3, 2013). "Anarcho-Capitalism: So Crazy, It Just Might Work!". Hit and Run (Reason blog). Retrieved September 28, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  46. ^ "Replies to Some Errors and Distortions in Bryan Caplan's "Anarchist Theory FAQ" version 5.2". Spunk Library. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  47. ^ "Appendix : Anarchism and "anarcho"-capitalism" (PDF).
  48. ^ "Theory and Practice in the Austrian School". September 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  49. ^ Caplan, Bryan (September 7, 2012). "Horwitz, Economy, and Empirics". Cato Unbound. Retrieved September 18, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  50. ^ http://www.gmu.edu/depts/economics/bcaplan/micfoundrev.doc
  51. ^ http://www.econjournalwatch.org/pdf/CaplanCommentApril2005.pdf
  52. ^ http://www.econjournalwatch.org/pdf/WittmanReplyApril2005.pdf
  53. ^ http://www.econjournalwatch.org/pdf/CaplanRejoinderAugust2005.pdf
  54. ^ http://www.econjournalwatch.org/pdf/Wittman2ndReplyAugust2005.pdf
  55. ^ "Preference Falsification: A Case Study".
  56. ^ Dourado, Eli (April 17, 2010). "The Myth of the Rational Blogosphere". Retrieved September 29, 2013.
  57. ^ Caplan, Bryan (March 14, 2009). "What Does the Betting Norm Tax?". EconLog. Retrieved September 29, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  58. ^ Caplan, Bryan (May 5, 2012). "The Bettor's Oath". EconLog. Retrieved January 30, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  59. ^ a b Gurri, Adam (July 2, 2013). "On Bets and Bullshit (links to posts in blogosphere conversation on bets)". Retrieved September 29, 2013.
  60. ^ Caplan, Bryan (July 1, 2013). "Bets, Portfolios, and Belief Revelation". EconLog. Retrieved July 5, 2013.
  61. ^ Caplan, Bryan (June 20, 2011). "The Ideological Turing Test". EconLog.
  62. ^ Caplan, Bryan (June 23, 2011). "Two Tries at the Ideological Turing Test". EconLog.
  63. ^ "Religious Turing Test Update". EconLog. July 7, 2011.
  64. ^ deLong, Brad (June 21, 2011). "The Turing Test: Who Can Successfully Explain Robert Nozick?".
  65. ^ Somin, Ilya (June 23, 2011). "Taking the Ideological Turing Test". The Volokh Conspiracy. Retrieved January 30, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  66. ^ Libresco, Leah. "Ideological Turing Test Contest". Patheos.
  67. ^ Caplan, Bryan. "Population, Fertility and Liberty". Cato Unbound.
  68. ^ "The Julian Simon Club".
  69. ^ Collins, Jason (May 5, 2011). "Would Julian Simon worry?". Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  70. ^ "The Magic of Education".
  71. ^ Cowen, Tyler (July 12, 2013). "How much of education and earnings variation is signalling? (Bryan Caplan asks) – See more at: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2013/07/how-much-of-education-is-signalling-bryan-caplan-asks.html#sthash.JFHdZf3l.dpuf". Marginal Revolution. Retrieved September 28, 2013. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  72. ^ "Searle".
  73. ^ "Free will".
  74. ^ "The Tiger Mother versus Cost-Benefit Analysis".
  75. ^ Caplan, Bryan (August 13, 2012). "Responding to Bryan Caplan". Growthology.org. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  76. ^ Caplan, Bryan (June 19, 2010). "The Breeders' Cup". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 18, 2013. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  77. ^ Caplan, Bryan (April 11, 2011). "Twin Lessons: Have More Kids. Pay Less Attention to Them". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 18, 2013. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  78. ^ "O Brother, Who Art Thou?". Wall Street Journal. June 20, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2013. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  79. ^ Caplan, Bryan (June 11, 2011). "Caplan vs. Chua Debate in the Guardian". EconLog. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  80. ^ Caplan, Bryan (April 7, 2011). "The Case for Having More Kids". The New York Times. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  81. ^ Dubner, Stephen J. (October 25, 2012). "We the Sheeple: A New Freakonomics Podcast". Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  82. ^ Caplan, Bryan (August 18, 2011). "The Worst Mistake I Ever Made: An Economists' Parenting Quorum". Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  83. ^ Caplan, Bryan (April 13, 2011). "Kids and Costs: A Guest Post on Twins by Bryan Caplan". Freakonomics. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  84. ^ Belkin, Lisa (April 12, 2011). "An Economist's Argument for More Children". New York Times (parenting blog). Retrieved September 18, 2013. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  85. ^ "Bryan Caplan discusses Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids on Fox and Friends". Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  86. ^ Caplan, Bryan (April 21, 2011). "The Nurture of Gretchen Carlson: A Guest Post by Bryan Caplan". Retrieved September 18, 2013.

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